‘Agents of destabilisation at work’ — Fashola debunks allegation of writing judgement for presidential election tribunal

Babatunde Fashola, former minister of works and housing, has denied the allegation that he was involved in drafting judgement for judges of the presidential election petition tribunal (PEPT).

Jackson Ude, a Twitter user, had alleged that Fashola and some lawyers of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were writing a judgement the ruling party intends to hand over to the presidential tribunal to adopt.

However, in a statement on Sunday, Hakeem Bello, Fashola’s special adviser on media, described the allegation as “baseless and defamatory”.

He condemned the individuals behind the allegations, describing them as “agents of destabilisation”.

“Fashola expressed his disappointment with the spread of this false information on social media platforms and has called on security agencies to take action against those responsible for spreading fake news,” the statement reads.

“In response to the allegation, Fashola clarified that he has been away from Abuja for an extended period of time, rendering the claims entirely unfounded.

“The former minister believes that these allegations may be part of a wider campaign to undermine the judiciary by those who seek to manipulate the institution for their own gain.

“He emphasises the importance of unmasking the perpetrators and their sponsors and ensuring that they face the appropriate legal consequences.”

He added that the former minister has initiated the process of filing formal petitions against the offensive tweets and online reports with the management of X (formerly known as Twitter), and the National Communications Commission (NCC).

He urged the relevant security agencies to treat this matter with “utmost seriousness, as it strikes at the heart of judicial independence”.

He also asked members of the public to disregard the false allegations and urged them to report any individuals “involved in spreading such dangerous fabrications to the relevant security agencies”.

Last Tuesday, the presidential election tribunal reserved judgment on the petition filed by Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), against Tinubu.

To reserve judgment means to hold the matter in abeyance for a while until a date is fixed for the final verdict.

Atiku is challenging the outcome of the February 25 election and praying the court to nullify Tinubu’s victory.

The tribunal also reserved judgment in the suit filed by Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), against Tinubu’s emergence as president.